by Ellen Devlin
“Good morning.” She winked at him and added, “Micky.”
He chuckled. “I love that you call me Tom. I hear Micky enough in the locker room.” He looked at her from half-lidded eyes. “But I’d be very happy to hear it from you once in a while like last night.” He smiled. “That was fucking amazing.”
“Yes, it was.” She looked at him for a second and said, “Just to be clear, so you won’t worry about this, please remember that part of my fantasy specifically included that my six-foot-four defenseman is an enforcer.” Her voice got very husky suddenly, and she drew patterns with her fingers on his chest. “A little rough can be very, very sexy, Tom.”
“Shit.” He growled. “I didn’t think it would be possible to get hard again for at least a day after last night.”
She laughed and winked again.
“Consider it my contribution to your cardio training.”
He chuckled.
“So I guess I’m going to need a new away sweater too.” She raised and lowered her eyebrows suggestively, and he laughed.
“Yes, you will. In all seriousness, though, all the other sweaters need to go. Today, Liz.” She looked at him in surprise, seeing that there was no hint of joking. “Give them away, I don’t care. But they need to be out of your apartment today.”
“Not just the Beckman one?” She was a little confused.
“No. All of them.”
“Realizing I probably shouldn’t even ask…even the one I just bought yesterday that does, in fact, have your name on it?”
He looked at her, eyes getting dark and stormy again, and said, “Yes, that one. You don’t own that one anymore—I do. Get rid of it.” She looked at him, meeting his angry eyes with her curious ones, and he softened, shaking his head. He took a deep breath. “It’s important to me.”
“Clearly,” she said. “I’m happy to do this for you. I am curious, though.”
“It’s hard to explain. It’s just a thing I’ve done since I’ve been playing and been old enough to be interested in girls. I think some other guys do it too—Becks used to, but I don’t know if he still did when he met Paige or if it was just when we were kids—but my girlfriend has to have my gear. From me. Not from anyone else. And certainly not that she had to go buy for herself because I fucking forgot to take care of her before a game.” His face had a small scowl. “It doesn’t matter that your away sweater is blank. It’s not from me. Everything not from me has to go.” He pulled her to him. She was still wearing his game sweater from the night before.
“This is the one that mattered the most, Liz. I will get you regular ones that fit better.” He smiled at her, and his voice got low, “Although you could wear nothing but this all day every day and I would be a happy man.”
She laughed, and his body reacted. “I will get you a home, and an away, that are mine. From me.” He kissed her. And then kissed her again. “I have no idea what I was going to say next.”
He kissed her again, moving so she was lying back on the pillow. “I think I was going to ask you if you were getting wet.”
Kissing, moving next to her. “Because I am so hard.”
Kiss, tongues. “And if you’re not wet, I could help you with that.”
His hand was between her legs, stroking her very gently, and she gasped and moaned. He dipped his finger to her entrance to find that she was indeed starting to get wet, and brought the moisture up to lubricate his slow, gentle movements around her clit. Her face was already flushed.
“I remember watching you at the hotel, when you were lying on the bed touching yourself. I told you I wanted to touch you like that.” He dipped his finger down again to pick up more lubrication and continued his slow, gentle, teasing motions. “You said you could come from this. Just from teasing.” He continued his slow movements and leaned to her ear, breathing against her. “Is that true?”
“Yes.” Her voice was breathy.
He shifted, making his movements smaller, and she whimpered.
“You said to not stop even if you begged.” Dip down, press in a little, back up with more slickness. “You said to tease you until you had an orgasm and then not stop teasing you until you had another one.”
She was panting. “Yes. Oh, yes.”
He dropped his voice low and rumbled in her ear. “You said my voice drives you crazy,” and then he flicked directly over her clit once. She jerked as if she had been given an electric shock.
“So,” he said into her ear, shifting back to the tiny movements he had seen her making in the hotel room, “I’m going to talk to you while I touch you and see if I can make you come so hard you see stars.”
He was right next to her clit, his slick fingertip making very small movements, sliding against her, brushing against her, teasing. Her heart was pounding, and he continued to alternate his light, teasing movements with dipping to rewet his fingers.
“You make me crazy, Liz.” His deep voice vibrated through her body. “I have never wanted anyone the way I want you.”
Her face was so hot. She tried to move to press harder against his hand, but he kept moving away to keep his touch maddeningly light.
“I want to be inside you.”
She was moving her hips, bucking against his hand, but he continued to only allow her to have the lightest of touches.
“I want to grind into you again and again.”
It was torment. It was exquisite. She was moving her hips as if he were riding her.
“I want to feel your body grip mine when you come.”
She cried out. And spasmed. And gripped every part of his body she could get her hands on as she came apart in his arms.
Tom smiled against her, deeply satisfied with her reaction; she was panting and pushing at his arms to let her go. He moved, sitting up, pulling her into his lap. He wrapped his left arm around her and trapped both of her arms to stop them from moving and kept his right hand exactly where it had been, still moving.
“No, stop.” She squirmed. “Don’t.” She was trying to get away, trying to stop the sensations, which were overwhelming. “It’s too much. Stop.”
“You said not to stop even if you begged me to.” Tom’s voice was low and rasping in her ear.
She was still struggling against him, panting.
“I’m taking you at your word on that this time, Liz.”
She wasn’t struggling against him now so much as drowning in the sensations.
“After this, we will need a safe word if we are going to play like this. I won’t ever go past you saying no again.”
Her back was arched, and every muscle in her body felt strung tight like a bow string.
“But, sweetheart, now that I know you enjoy getting a little rough…”
She was gasping, the pressure was building, and his words were pushing her beyond what she thought was possible for her to handle.
“…sometimes, I’m going to just want to hold you down and take you hard and fast.”
The second orgasm was unbelievable, clenching every muscle in her body, repeatedly. When she started to be able to move again, she opened her eyes, looking at Tom. He looked deeply pleased.
“Hold me down and take me hard and fast.” Her voice was rough from panting and vocalizing. His look changed immediately, and he held her down, and took her. Tom held her hands pressed into the bed over her head and entered her in one thrust, driving into her with a ferocity that surprised even him. Then he rode her body hard and fast, seeking only his own pleasure, losing himself in the sensation of pounding into her, until he reached his release, and finally found himself back in his own body and mind again.
***
“I don’t know how you do that to me.”
He was mumbling into a pillow. They were sprawled across the bed in a strange tangle of limbs and sheets, too exhausted to figure out which body parts belonged to each of them.
“Me?” she chuckled, although that seemed like far too much effort. “You started this. This is all on you.”
She sighed. “I feel boneless. Languid.”
His turn to chuckle. “Me too.” He paused. “I think I’m going back to sleep.” Another pause. This time his voice sounded more slurred. “I don’t think I have a choice about that.” And then finally, “I love you, Liz,” followed by light snoring.
She smiled and then fell asleep too.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“This is going to be our longest road trip of the season. I’m finding it a little hard to believe I’m not going to see you for ten days.” They were sitting together on her couch, Liz cuddled next to him with his arm around her. Tom was going to have to leave soon. “I’m going to miss you.” He pulled her into him closer.
“I will miss you too. At least I get to see you on TV, though.” She smiled at him. “I have told you how insanely hot you look in your gear, right?”
Tom chuckled. “Once or twice.” He kissed the top of her head. “But God knows I love hearing it. So please don’t stop.”
“You look freaking hot playing hockey. Like, lick the TV screen hot.” He laughed out loud and stood up, pulling her with him.
“Shit, I don’t want to leave.” He smiled and touched her face gently, his gaze getting more serious as he looked at her.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”
“Do you remember what you said to me, you know, that night, here, before I…left?” Tom asked her. His tone was now serious too, and she looked at him closely. By his tone and manner, she understood what he was talking about.
“Yes, of course,” she replied, waiting quietly for him to continue.
Tom hesitated a moment and then looked slightly away from her eyes. With a small hitch in his voice, and something Liz could only label shyness, he asked softly, “Would you say it to me again? I would like to have a memory of those words that doesn’t end with me walking out on you.”
Liz was glad he wasn’t looking her in the eye in that moment, because she was afraid he would take the look of her fighting tears the wrong way. The sweetness of his request tore her heart. She said nothing but took his hand and pulled him back down to sit as they had been sitting that night. She turned toward him, but instead of holding his hands in hers, she gently took his face in her hands and stroked his beard with her thumbs.
She spoke softly, with a small smile on her face. “I am so very deeply in love with you.” She placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “Yours is the only kiss I want to taste on my lips.” She kissed him again tenderly. “Yours are the only hands I want to feel on my body…” another soft kiss, “…and you are the only man I want in my bed, Tom.” She finished with a kiss that lingered only slightly longer but was still soft and sweet.
Tom stood up again, bringing her with him, and pulled her to him in a gentle embrace. He murmured into her hair, “You changed it.”
She smiled against his chest. “I did.”
He shifted back and kissed her softly. “It’s better.”
“I’m glad.” Liz smiled at him, checked the clock, and said, “I think we have just enough time left for you to kiss me goodbye properly.” Tom smiled his heart-stopping smile and kissed her, dipping her down for a moment to make her laugh, and then bringing her back up to take his time to kiss her enough to last them for ten days.
When he let her go, she said, “Go win some games, sweetheart.”
“Fuck, yeah.” Tom grabbed her ass for a moment. She laughed, and he walked out her door, making his “just scored a goal” gesture.
***
They were finally on the bus, heading toward the hotel in one of the cities on their long road trip. The game had gone into overtime and then to a shootout. They had won, so Tom was in a good mood, but everything had seemed to run longer than usual—post-game interviews, et cetera. It was late, but he knew Liz would still be awake, waiting for him to call.
She picked up on the second ring. Her voice was husky, and it made his chest tighten. “Hey, handsome,” she said. “I’ve been missing you.”
“You too. Anything going on? You sound…”
She chuckled, low and throaty. Tom squeezed his eyes shut and put his head back against the headrest. “I wouldn’t have answered the phone for anyone except you,” she said. “I’m sitting on the couch, thinking about the night on the hotel rooftop…” Her voice was breathless, and she gasped out a small sound.
He realized with a start what she must be doing, where her hand must be. She had told him the night on the hotel rooftop was going to be the memory to keep her warm while he was gone on long roadies, but this was new.
“Christ, Liz,” he breathed. He had gone from calm to fully, painfully erect in heartbeats, sitting in the middle of a bus crowded with his teammates.
“Should I tell you more?” she teased.
“No!” he said, much louder than he intended.
His seatmate hit him on the shoulder, saying, “What the hell, Micky?” Other voices protested in general, and from a few seats back, he heard, “Shut, it, Mick!”
Tom turned to the window, lowered his voice to a whisper, and said again, “No! I’m on the bus, for chrissakes.”
Liz laughed suddenly, breaking the mood. “Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry. I thought you’d be in the hotel by now.”
Tom put his head back against the seat again. “Everything ran late. We’re not going to be there for at least another twenty minutes.” He lowered his voice again. “But either way, I was definitely not expecting that.”
“Well,” she said, trying for a moment to shift back to sultry, “I just can’t seem to get you off my mind.” His groin pulsed again, and he swore softly.
Liz laughed again. “I’m gonna hang up the phone before I do any damage,” she said. “I love you.”
“Love you too.”
***
Liz hung up the phone. The giggles became snorts of laughter. She almost felt bad about how hard she was laughing, but seriously—her first ever attempt at phone sex, and it turned out he was sitting on the team bus instead of in his hotel room?
The sensual mood was gone, temporarily at least, but it was worth it for the laugh. She had needed that.
***
About five minutes later, Tom’s phone vibrated with a text message.
Liz: I JUST stopped laughing. Seriously. Call me when you’re at the hotel and I’ll make it up to you. I promise.
He smiled and shook his head, still amazed that she bothered to text in full sentences with proper grammar.
Tom: K
He added a heart emoji. He hit send, knowing she would smile and shake her head at the shortcuts.
***
Liz picked up the phone and heard Tom’s deep voice rumble on the other end. “Hey, gorgeous. I’m in the hotel room. Rooming with Zee. He’s in the bathroom right now, so I’ve got a few minutes to talk. What the hell was that? Not that I’m actually complaining.”
“Well, hello, handsome,” she said. Her voice was playful and low, and somehow it felt like she was breathing directly into his left ear. “I know you’re tired, but I suspect you might also still be somewhat aroused by our earlier conversation. I know I am.”
Shit. “Well, I am now,” he growled. He ran his right hand through his hair. “Zee is going to be out here any minute, Liz. This is not helping me.”
“Just trust me. All you have to do is listen. I’ve never done this before, so, as usual, I’m just gonna wing this.”
Tom put his hand over his eyes. He was tired, and he had already been somewhere between half-mast and rock hard for the past half hour because of the woman on the other end of the phone.
“Okay.”
“You do what you need to do. Just listen, right? I’m just going to talk to you. Just hold the phone to your ear. Get changed. When Zee gets out of the bathroom, go in and brush your teeth, get ready for bed…and your phone is waterproof, right?”
“Yeah?”
“So if you should end up wanting to get in the shower for a few minutes…”
“I sh
owered at the arena.”
“I know, sweetheart. I’m just saying. The shower makes some extra noise, and you won’t have to let go of the phone. Just in case.”
“Okay.”
Tom started getting his stuff together one handed, holding the phone to his ear. He really was tired.
“Tom,” she breathed, “I am not going to tease you. Maybe some other time, but right now I just want to tell you what I would do if I were there with you. Because I miss you like hell, and I want you so badly. I’m picturing you wearing jeans, because God, you look good in jeans.”
She made a small humming sound. “Mmm. Okay, you’re in jeans. I would stand in front of you and undo the button to make more room. And since this is my fantasy, they’re button-fly, so I would undo, say, two buttons.”
She was trying to find a good pace, a rhythm. Talking slowly, but not too slowly, her voice sexy and low—that wasn’t difficult, because she had her eyes closed, picturing everything she was saying.
“And then I would move my right hand around to your back and down inside your jeans to grab your ass cheek. Because your ass is amazing. Have I told you that your ass is amazing?”
Zee came out of the bathroom.
“Micky.” Receiving no response, he repeated, “Mick.”
Tom realized he had been standing, staring out the window, holding the phone in one hand and his toothbrush in the other.
Tom turned around, looking slightly glazed. “What?”
“Bathroom is free. Is that Liz? Tell her I said hi, and good night.”
“Tell Zee I said good night, Tom,” said Liz.
“She said good night.” His voice was a little distant.
Zee laughed. “Don’t suppose I could hear that from her, maybe in a really sexy voice? It’s a long road trip, and it’s definitely not the same coming from you.”
“What?” Tom blinked, hearing Liz laughing on the other end of the line. “No. No! Definitely not.”